


Midnight at the Local Drugstore

by BlessedLunatic



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rumbelle Secret Santa 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 21:01:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5470658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlessedLunatic/pseuds/BlessedLunatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Rumple and Belle reunion, from an outside point of view.  Dwarves do love their gossip, after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Pharmacy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zinger17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zinger17/gifts).



> Written for the lovely zinger17 for Rumbelle Secret Santa. Her prompt was "midnight at the local drugstore," which I loved so much that I made it the title. This was such a fun prompt to work with, and I hope you like the results! :)
> 
> Set during the season 5 winter finale, but maybe a little *hand-wavey* when it comes to accurate canon time.
> 
> This is a fic in two parts - Chapter 1 is pretty gen and rated T. Chapter 2 is rumbelle sexytimes and rated M. Both parts are connected, but each can be read separately without any confusion.

Tom Clark wasn’t a brilliant man, but he did know a few things. He knew that in another world he’d been a dwarf named Sneezy whose main purpose in life had been mining (such a _dusty_ job). He knew that in this world antihistamines were possibly the greatest invention known to mankind. He knew which citizens of Storybrooke had prescriptions to treat things they’d probably prefer he never disclose (there was a reason that Keith, the former sheriff of Nottingham, always bought him a beer when he saw him at the bar). He knew that old Mrs. Finnegan would shout at him if he didn’t diligently keep her favorite brand of cotton balls in stock (what she did with all those cotton balls he didn’t know, and didn’t ask). He knew that he loved his dwarf brothers dearly. And he knew that his brothers were surely the most irritating dwarves to ever be hatched.

“Come ooooon!” Sleepy yawned, drawing out the second word. “Just close up early!”

Tom sighed. “I can’t. You know the pharmacy stays open until midnight on Fridays. We’ve been through this!” On Fridays (pending certain doom, of course, which today had nearly almost turned into) the brothers all got together to have a few beers, play a little pool, and soak up some gossip at The Rabbit Hole. Unfortunately, his brothers often started early at Granny’s, and, when she closed at 11, they liked to loiter around the pharmacy and wait for him.

“It’s fifteen minutes! Nobody would even know!”

“ _I’d_ know. It’s bad business to not keep the hours posted,” Tom replied, trying his best to sound authoritative, "and I already had to close unexpectedly this afternoon. Why don’t you all just go on ahead and I’ll join you when I’m done?”

“Because we’re brothers,” Leroy growled, “and the tradition is that Friday nights we all go together. Especially after we all just nearly got sent to Hell by a bunch of Dark Ones!” 

The others all nodded and mumbled agreement. It had been an interesting day, to say the least. Brotherly bonding over beer _did_ sound rather appealing. He just wished they'd leave him alone while he was _trying_ to work.

“So,” Leroy said as he pulled a can of beer out of his coat pocket, “Who’s got any good gossip?”

“You can’t drink that in here!” Tom sputtered as Leroy moved to open the beer. “This is a pharmacy, not a bar. We have open container laws in this state!”

Leroy simply glared directly at him, not breaking eye contact as he lifted the beer and popped the tab. “Oops, it’s open. I guess I’d better drink it and get rid of the evidence before _absolutely no one_ shows up to arrest me. Does anyone even know who the sheriff is right now?”

The murmured replies indicated that no, nobody did. 

“I was, once, you know,” Tom muttered.

Leroy snorted. “Yeah, we all saw how well that worked out for you.” He took a long drink of his beer. “So, again...any interesting news? Anyone?”

Leave it to Leroy to get right back into things after another big hero and villain showdown. But, dwarves were nothing if not adaptable. They didn’t question much, and moved on quickly. And, well, dwarves did enjoy their gossip.

“I guess Hook’s dead?” Doc meekly supplied. The others solemnly nodded.

“That’s not really gossip, everybody knows about that,” Leroy grumbled, “but we should drink to him later anyway. Always thought the guy was kind of a sleazy asshole, but apparently he saved our lives, so…” with a shrug, he raised his beer can in a silent toast and took a swig. 

“Um,” Bashful spoke up, his face already flushed, “I heard that Belle is back in town, and...and with Gold again.”

“Where’d you hear that?” Happy asked with a laugh. “I heard that she flat out shut him down and skipped town as soon as she could.”

“I saw her leave!” Sleepy added. “And I don’t blame her! She seems too nice to be with Gold. I can’t understand what she saw in him.”

Happy smirked. “Well, we’re dwarves! What do any of us understand about love and romance?”

There was a moment of silence as the others nodded pensively. While all of the citizens of Storybrooke had awoken from the curse with memories of another life in another world, few had been hit with the sudden realization that in their other life they’d hatched from eggs. It was a little awkward, to say the least.

“Hey, leave Belle alone!” Grumpy huffed. “She deserves better, but you can’t help who you fall in love with!” He glanced around awkwardly before lowering his eyes back to his beer. They’d all forgotten that Grumpy had somehow defied dwarf logic and had fallen for a fairy, of all things.

Bashful, who’d been waiting patiently to speak, finally got his chance. “But, but... _I_ saw Gold’s car parked in front of his shop again after the Dark Ones all disappeared. And then a little while ago I overheard Marco telling Archie that _he_ saw them leave together while he was fixing the clock tower again, and they were smiling.”

“Huh. Well.” Doc frowned. “But do you suppose they’re... _together_ together, or just...together? Are they still technically married? Wasn’t Belle dating that thief guy? Whatever happened to him?”

“Will. I think he left town around the same time that we went to Camelot. He wasn’t here when we got back.”

“Now they made a cute couple,” Happy sighed. “They seemed like a good match. Shame Gold didn’t stay banished - Belle could’ve settled down with Will and moved on from all that Dark One business.”

“I don’t think they were ever really serious,” Leroy countered, “I only ever saw them sharing dessert at Granny’s. Think he was just kind of a comfort rebound.”

“How... _together_...do you think they were?” Sleepy asked. “I mean, I dislike Gold as much as the next guy, but I’d still feel kind of bad for him if his wife was off sleeping with someone else as soon as he disappeared.”

“Hey, watch it! Belle’s her own woman!” Grumpy barked. “These are modern times, nobody owns her.”

“Yeah, sure, but still…”

“She never refilled her birth control!” Tom found himself blurting out, causing the pharmacy to fall silent. He shuffled awkwardly and ducked his head at the stares. “I mean...she had a prescription for birth control pills that she’d get refilled every month, and after Rumplestiltskin left town, she stopped refilling it.” He paused to sneeze. “That doesn’t necessarily mean anything, and I really shouldn’t even be telling anyone, but…” he shrugged.

“Can we please stop talking about this now?” Leroy asked with a slightly queasy grimace. “It’s one thing thinking about them being together, but it’s another thing thinking about them... _being together_.”

“You brought it up! You wanted gossip.” Tom muttered. He glanced at the clock. “Anyway, it’s just about midnight, so I can start closing up and we can get…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the door burst open with a clatter and in walked none other than Mr. Gold himself. His eyes were wide, his breath heavy, and he looked positively...disheveled. 

“Ah, good,” Gold panted, “You’re still open.”

“I was just about to close…” Tom protested, meekly. Dark One or no, Gold still owned half the town and was still a right scary bastard when he wanted to be.

“I’ll only be a minute,” Gold called as he disappeared down an aisle. True to his word, he returned not thirty seconds later and placed an item on the counter.

It was, Tom noted, looking down, a bulk-size box of premium quality, ultra-thin, ribbed-for-her-pleasure, lubricated condoms. Oh.

“W-will that be all you need tonight, Mr. Gold?” _Oh, no, that sounded..._ “I-I mean, can I help you with anything else?” He could feel himself blushing as he rang up the purchase.

“No, Mr. Clark,” Gold sighed. “That will be all, thank you.”

Gold’s eyes shifted to the side as he fished his wallet out of his pocket, and only then did he seem to realize that he was being stared at by an audience of wide-eyed, slack-jawed dwarves. His eyes narrowed.

“Gentlemen,” he hissed with false politeness. “I realize contraception must be a strange concept to those who’ve _hatched_ , but I assure you it’s not that fascinating.” He took his receipt and glanced back at Tom. “I apologize for delaying you. Now,” he turned and started toward the door, “if you’ll excuse me, my wife is waiting.”

“No problem, Mr. Gold,” Tom squeaked. “Have a good night!” 

Gold shot them a steely look from over his shoulder as the door banged shut behind him.

Tom dropped his head into his hands and shook it, mortified. “‘Have a good night?’ Really?”

“Well,” Doc shrugged, “it looks like he will.”

“I guess that answers the question of how back together they are,” Sleepy said with a yawn.

“Ew.” Bashful grimaced.

Leroy was still staring at the door, mouth open. Happy nudged him. “Hey, Earth to Grumpy.”

He snapped out of his trance with a shudder, causing the half-full can of beer to slip from his grasp and fall to the floor with a clunk, spilling along the tile as it rolled away down an aisle. “ _Shit_ ,” he said, in a very uncharacteristic whisper, but he was still looking at the door, not at his beer, and there was a hint of something sounding vaguely...impressed...in his tone.

Happy clapped him on the back and turned to Tom with a grin. “Hey, Sneezy! Clean up on aisle three!”

Tom groaned and dropped his head back into his hands. He loved his brothers, he reminded himself again, without much conviction. He really, really did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea if Dopey is still a tree or not, so he's not appearing in this chapter. Or maybe he is there, and he's just not saying much. ;)


	2. Home

The tires squealed as Rumplestiltskin turned the Cadillac into his driveway just a bit too quickly. He cut the engine and hurriedly scrambled out of the car and up the walk. Reaching for the door, he was startled when it burst open before his hand could even make contact. 

“You’re back!” Belle exclaimed as she poked her head around the door. Glancing around as if to make sure nobody was watching, she flung the door open and hauled him inside by his lapels. “Were they still open?” she asked, biting her lip in that adorable way she did when she was anxious. He held up the plastic pharmacy bag in answer, and she grinned as she used his body to push the door closed, followed closely by her own as she pressed up against him.

"By tomorrow morning the whole town is going to know we're together again, by the way," he sighed. "All the dwarves were at the pharmacy."

Belle giggled as she slid her hands up and down his chest. "Good. Let them talk."

It was then that he noticed she was wearing one of his shirts. _Only_ one of his shirts. His cock gave an interested twitch from where it was pressed between them. Belle, obviously noticing, grinned slyly. 

“Someone’s eager,” she whispered into his ear as she leaned in to gently tease the lobe between her teeth.

“Yes, well,” he gasped, “someone’s been delayed from getting what he wants this evening and has been waiting very patiently.” Rumple groaned as one of her hands reached up to sink her fingers into his hair and turn his head to better access the sensitive skin along his jaw. Her other hand began working to loosen his tie.

Earlier, their happy reunion in the pawn shop had led to tearful emotional confessions of love amidst heartfelt apologies and reassuring embraces, and had eventually turned into heavy kissing and groping as they tried to make up for lost time on the cot in the back. As things had progressed, Belle had let out an exasperated groan when she realized that birth control would very much be an issue since she had stopped taking the pill after his banishment. His heart had soared at the implication that her relationship with Will Scarlet hadn’t gotten intimate (not, of course, that he would ever press her for details of what exactly it _did_ entail), and, giddy, he had suggested they take their reunion home, where he could build her a cozy fire in their bedroom fireplace, let her relax against expensive satin sheets, and worship her body until sunrise. It had all been perfect, in theory, and he had done a fair bit of worshiping with his hands and mouth before the rest of their plans had been halted by the sudden realization that the box of condoms he had assured her he still had in his nightstand drawer had ended up being completely empty.

“Hmm.” The tie came free and she threw it over her shoulder. “You know what they say about patience.”

“That it’s bloody annoying?” he groaned as she tugged his shirt out of his suit pants and started in on the buttons.

Belle giggled. “You’re a hero now, you should know all about the various virtues.”

And, just like that, his heart plummeted. She was too distracted with his buttons to notice his pained wince as he thought about how he was lying to her, again, after just reassuring her not two days ago that he would always be honest with her from now on. Tomorrow, he decided. He would tell her tomorrow. Let them have tonight. Let him show her he could still be good to her even with darkness in his heart. For her, he’d try, like he’d done before. Tomorrow he would tell her and everything might change, but oh, god, he needed her tonight. It was selfish and it was weak, but, well, he was a monster again, and a cowardly one at that. 

He was pulled from his thoughts by the gentle scrape of her nails against his chest. “Hey,” she said softly as he turned his attention back to her. “Are you okay? You seemed a little...lost, just now.” Her gorgeous blue eyes gazed at him, and in them he could see a hint of not-quite-disguised trepidation. 

“I’m fine, sweetheart, really. Just a little...overwhelmed.” He smiled in an effort to reassure her, and her answering smile eased the doubt he’d seen in her eyes. “And,” he continued, voice turning playful, “I was trying to think of what I know about virtues. I’m afraid that the only thing that comes to mind right now in relation to virtue is how I’d very much like to tarnish yours, thoroughly.”

Belle shook her head and bit her lip again, teasingly this time. “I think,” she whispered as she leaned closer to his ear, “that it’s much, much too late for that.” And, without warning, she promptly slid her hand down his stomach and squeezed his growing hardness through his trousers.

“Belle!” he choked out as he quickly made a grab for her hand to pull it away. “Keep doing that, and we won’t even need those.” He nodded toward the pharmacy bag on the floor, which he’d dropped in his haste to stop her. 

“Oh, we still would,” she smiled slyly. “We have all night, and I intend to show you _repeatedly_ just how much I missed you.”

He groaned and pulled her tightly against him as he bent to devour her mouth. “It can’t be more than I missed you,” he stated, words punctuated by kisses. 

“Mmm.” He felt her smile against his lips. “Let’s see, shall we?” Giggling, she snatched the bag from the floor and tugged his hand to pull him toward the stairs.

The journey up the stairs to their bedroom took much longer than was strictly necessary as they kept pausing to remove bits of clothing between sighs, moans, and gentle laughter. When they reached the landing he ripped open the shirt she was wearing, sending buttons scattering down the stairs. Her protests that she _liked_ that shirt were cut short as he bent his mouth to her breasts and reduced her to soft cries and gasps.

When they finally made it through the bedroom door they were both naked, and both impatiently tired of waiting. With no preamble Belle tore open the cardboard box and made short work of opening a condom and rolling it onto him, stroking him a few times for good measure. His body shivered in pleasure at the feel of her touch on his over-sensitive skin. It was too much. Too much and yet not nearly enough. Her mouth attacked his with vigor as she quickly backed them toward the bed, pulling him down on top of her when they reached it.

And then, finally, _finally_ , he slid into her welcoming wet heat, and in that moment everything felt right. He didn't feel the heaviness of the curse weighing him down as he had when they'd made love before, just his newly restored and not-yet-darkened heart beating frantically with overwhelming love for his Belle, his light, as she writhed and moaned beneath him. He could feel hot tears rolling down his cheeks as they moved together, and when she opened her eyes and gave him a bittersweet smile he knew she'd felt them fall.

“I love you,” she whispered as she reached up and caressed his cheek, swiping away the tears from under his eye with her thumb. 

“Oh, Belle,” he sighed at the sight of matching tears in her eyes. “I love you so much.” Overcome with emotion, his eyes fell shut and he gritted his teeth, struggling to keep his thrusts even and his body under control. He knew he wouldn’t last, not when it had been so long and he was feeling so much.

“Rumple,” she called him gently, forcing him to open his eyes and look at her. “It’s okay,” she smiled, “you can let go.” 

He gasped out her name again as he gave in to his body’s demands and increased his pace, frantically pounding into her as her soft cries urged him on. He broke with a shuddering cry, and her answering moan and the feel of her pulsing around him told him that she’d somehow managed to follow him over the edge. Relief and joy flooded through him as his limbs gave out and he collapsed next to her on the bed.

“Wow,” she softly exclaimed as she struggled to catch her breath. “That was...wow.”

“Yes,” he agreed, still gasping. "Wow." He rolled over to dispose of the condom in the bedside trash can. Sliding back toward her warmth, he bent to tug the covers up around them before spooning up against her back. “Goodnight, darling,” he whispered while pressing gentle kisses to the nape of her neck.

“Goodnight, Rumple,” she returned with a contented sigh. “Though don’t get too comfortable just yet - I intend to wake up in a few hours ready for round two.”

“Yes, dear.” He smiled against her skin as he felt her heartbeat and breathing return to normal. In a few minutes she’d drift off to sleep, and he’d lie awake and enjoy the feel of her in his arms while it lasted.

The dagger whispered to him from across town where it was safely hidden in his shop. _Tomorrow_ , he resolved, _I’ll tell her tomorrow._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being a lot more angsty than I had originally planned back when I started writing it. Blame the mid-season finale. Oh, Rumple Bumple


End file.
